Spiridione Roma ( – 15 June 1786), also known as Spiridon or Spyridon Romas ( el, Σπυρίδων Ρώμας), was a Greek painter from Corfu. He was a prominent member of the Heptanese School. His contemporary was

Spyridon Sperantzas Spyridon Sperantzas ( el, Σπυρίδων Σπεράντζας, 1733 – 1818) was a Greek painter. He flourished during the Greek Neoclassical era and the Modern Greek Enlightenment in art also known as Neo-Hellenikos Diafotismos. Beca ...

. He was another painter from

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. He also painted all over Italy and settled in Triste. Romas painted on the Ionian Islands,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

before settling in England. He was one of the few Greek painters to travel to a foreign country outside of the Greek or Italian world. The other two were

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

and Efstathios Altinis. He was also a British painter during the last decades of his life. He was active in the region from 1770 to 1786. According to the Hellenic Institute, over twenty-five of his works survived. He was the British

. His most popular work is a painting entitled '' The East Offering its Riches to Britannia''.

History

Spyridon Romas was born in Corfu. His wife’s name was Margarita. He had two daughters and a son. The state archives of Livorno indicate in 1762 a letter of recommendation was sent from Corfu to the Greek community of Livorno on behalf of Spyridon Romas. The painter signed a contract to decorate the Greek church of the Holy Trinity in Livorno in 1764 and 1766. Twenty paintings were completed for the church. He also completed work in

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

, Sicily for the Greek church Chiesa Greco-Ortodossa di San Nicola. He was active in Sicily and central Italy before traveling to England. Archives indicate he was a prominent member of the Greek community in England. He was invited in 1770. He lived on Queen Anne St East. Records indicate his works were exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1774 to 1778. According to newspaper advertisements, he was a painter but also maintained paintings. Towards the end of his life, he worked for nobles, collectors, and art lovers. He was also associated with the

Earl of Egremont Earl of Egremont was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749, along with the subsidiary title Baron of Cockermouth, in Cumberland, for Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, with remainder to his nephews Sir Charles Wy ...

He died on 15 June 1786. His art drastically revolutionized the painting style of the Heptanese School. He followed the path of the Panayiotis Doxaras and his contemporaries. He refined traditional paintings of the

Cretan School Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becom ...

bringing the work into the more sophisticated Stile di pittura Ionico or stile Ionico. Romas was a proponent of the Ionian style. His works reflect his advanced knowledge of the style prevalent in the region. His painting style further evolved when he was exposed to Anglican paintings. He is one of the few Greek painters to completely abandon his Greek Italian painting roots.

Britannia

He is best known for an allegorical ceiling piece, ''The East Offering its Riches to Britannia'' (1778), commissioned by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

for the Revenue Committee Room in the

East India House East India House was the London headquarters of the East India Company, from which much of British India was governed until the British government took control of the Company's possessions in India in 1858. It was located in Leadenhall Street ...

in London. The painting generally represents the era's panegyric to Britain's imperial and colonialist domination. The painting is described in the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' of 1778 as follows: The painting is now in the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in London. A reproduction is held in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in London. Other works by Roma in the British

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

collections include ''An Illusionistic Gothic Patron's Pew, in the Extension of the Chapel'' (c.1769/1771).The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and Parts Adjacent
p. 492.

Gallery

File:Spiridon romas, iconostasi della ss.ma trinità a livorno, 1764-67, madonna col bambino.jpg,

Madonna and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...

File:Spiridon romas, iconostasi della ss.ma trinità a livorno, 1764-67, trinità.jpg,

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

File:Spiridon romas, iconostasi della ss.ma trinità a livorno, 1764-67, giovanni battista 01.jpg, John the Baptist File:Spiridon romas, iconostasi della ss.ma trinità a livorno, 1764-67, porta della prothesis con san michele.jpg, Saint Michael

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roma, Spiridione 1735 births 1786 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters 18th-century English painters English male painters 18th-century Greek painters Greek Baroque painters Painters of the Heptanese School Artists from Corfu 18th-century English male artists 18th-century Italian male artists

History

Britannia

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography